“So, it is now official that Anders Björler is no longer a part of At The Gates. He will always be part of the At The Gates family, of course, but he will no longer write, record or play with us live.

“This is something that we, the rest of the band, have felt was on its way for quite some time, as that special spark was no longer with him the last year.

“We are grateful for all we have experienced together with him, all the records, all the songs, all the gigs, all the laughs and good times.

“The rest of us have in the meantime started the work on the follow up to At War With Reality, we already have three songs written, and the direction is set for an intense, hungry follow-up album.

“Jonas has always written a considerable part of the bands’ material and we are fully confident that the new material will live up to the standards set by our previous records. It is ripping.

“The four of us still has the burning urge to create death metal together, and we love playing live in front of our fans, so we will go on, with an even stronger intent.

“While writing the new record, that we intend to record in the beginning of 2018, we are trying out Anders‘ replacement. Some auditions are being held as we speak, and we will get back to you with news on the matter as soon as we know more.

//ATG”

Here is Anders‘ statement:

“Just a quick note to let everybody know that I am leaving At The Gates permanently.
The passion is just gone. There might be a more lengthy statement in the future, but at the moment I feel no need to explain further.

“This is a personal decision, and it has 100% to do with the music side of things.

“The reunion in 2008, and the subsequent tours, as well as the comeback album ’AT WAR WITH REALITY’, really helped revisiting our friendship, and it brought us together in a way I will always remember and cherish.

“I would also like to thank all the people that supported us throughout the reunion shows as well as the ’AT WAR WITH REALITY’ album.

Polish death/black metal tyrants AZARATH premiere a brand new song from their highly anticipated album In Extremis, set to be released on April 7th via Agonia Records. Available in a form of a lyric video, “At The Gates Of Understanding” is the first single to be released from the album. It arrives six long years after the band’s last installment, Blasphemers’ Maledictions, from 2011.

The band was formed in 1998 by drummer Inferno of BEHEMOTH fame. He’s accompanied byBart (ARMAGEDON, DAMNATION) on guitars, Necrosodom (ANIMA DAMNATA, DEUS MORTEM, ex-INFERNAL WAR) on vocals and guitars, as well as Peter (ex-LOST SOUL) on bass.

SÓLSTAFIR have revealed the first song of their forthcoming sixth full-length, Berdreyminn, which means a “dreamer of forthcoming events” and will be out in stores on May 26th via Season of Mist.

The track “Ísafold” is now online:

SÓLSTAFIR comments: “Our first premiere song ‘Ísafold‘ came very spontaneously to light. It felt like the spirit of THIN LIZZY paid us a visit that day. Adding a classic Phil Rudd beat to that seemed the only right thing to do. This is not the most typical SÓLSTAFIR track but in some odd way it could be taken to represent this album. For such a short song, it offers many different sonic landscapes. And although we are not re-inventing the wheel and you will find many references to ‘classics’ as tributes, I find it quite different from anything that we have done before. That is the way, I like it and to me ‘Ísafold‘ is already an all-time favourite among all our tracks.”

Legendary death metal guitarist, Jack Owen, will be rejoining ex-CANNIBAL CORPSE bandmate, Chris Barnes, in SIX FEET UNDER as a second guitarist. Jack was part of the rebirth of DEICIDE as he joined the band in 2004 following his exit from CANNIBAL.

Chris Barnes comments:

“Hello, hello! First of all, I would like to thank all the fans that pre-ordered and purchased our new album ‘Torment‘, and everyone that is enjoying our new work! Thank you very much! Much appreciated!!
“And now, without further ado, it is with great pleasure that I announce and introduce to you our new second guitarist, Jack Owen.
“As you all know, Jack and I started off together helping form one of the greatest Death Metal bands of all time. Jack and I began talking a few months ago, after his departure from his previous band about joining forces.
“From my side of things, it’s going to be amazing to work with Jack again!! We had some intense adventures, to say the least hahaha…and it’s gonna be killer to step on stage with Jack for the first time in over 22 years!!“Jack will be joining SFU for the entire cycle of touring for the new album and beyond!
“As you can imagine Six Feet Under is planning a very exciting live set list for you all to freak out over!!!
“More info and tour dates coming soon!
“Hang on to your skeleton!!
–Barnes”

Jack Owen adds: “I’m super excited to work with my metal brother Chris Barnes and the mighty Six Feet Under! We’ve been talking about writing original material for years, and I hope it gets to that point. It would be amazing. For now, I’m looking forward to touring our asses off. I miss Europe, Canada, South America – hell, I just miss touring! It will be an honor jamming with Chris and his current SFU lineup of talented musicians…and performing with Chris will be like reliving our youth. I can’t wait to see all the SFU and old school Cannibal Corpse fans across the globe!”

SATYRICON have announced an open search for a second live guitarist while they continue to write their new album. Here are the details:

“Satyricon might need you!

“Satyricon is currently considering a second guitar player for touring. If you would like to audition for this, you need to have the following qualifications:

“Skills on a high international level, touring experience, ability to attend rehearsals on a weekly basis and good social skills. You MUST be a Satyricon fan. The band is not looking for players in general. This is a lifestyle, more than a job. It is not possible to play the music of Satyricon without feeling it, or responding to the demands of the band without really wanting to be a part of this.

“Please send a video of yourself playing not only your own select Satyricon songs, but anything you think is representative of your level as a player. It does not have to be technical, it might as well be something representative of your ability to interpret music. Should the band want to pursue, you will be invited to an audition in Oslo.

The inevitable finally happened on February 4, 2017. BLACK SABBATH played their final show at Genting Arena in their hometown of Birmingham. Here is official footage of the final song, “Paranoid.”

As expected, the setlist for the show was essentially the same set they’ve been performing since the reunion with Ozzy for the second Ozzfest. Here are some other clips:

Sadly, we never got to see Bill Ward participate in this final leg of the tour (or the reunion for that matter). But then again, maybe it’s for the best.

Thank you for everything, SABBATH. None of us would be here without you. We can’t wait to see the new projects from each individual member! And who knows, they may reunite again. This is rock ‘n roll after all.

The death metal gods from Yonkers, New York, IMMOLATION, will finally release album number 10, Atonement, on February 24th, 2017. The first song, “Destructive Currents,” is now online as a 360 degree video:

Atonement was recorded at Millbrook Sound Studios in Millbrook, NY with longtime producer Paul Orofino, and mixed and mastered once again by Zack Ohren (ALL SHALL PERISH, DECREPIT BIRTH, SUFFOCATION). Cover art was created by renowned artist Pär Olofsson (IMMORTAL, THE FACELESS, EXODUS, ABYSMAL DAWN), along with additional artwork by the very talented Zbigniew Bielak (GHOST, ENSLAVED, PARADISE LOST, WATAIN).

Comments vocalist/bassist Ross Dolan:
“We are excited that everyone will finally get a preview of what the new record has to offer. Atonement is a very dark and haunting album both musically and lyrically, commenting on the darker side of humanity and the world today. Each song on this album is unique in its own way, offering the listener a wide range of dark and sinister passages that I think really hone in on all the elements that make this band what it is.

“The sound of this record is exactly what we were hoping for, and we feel the production really gives these songs that massive sound and dark sinister feel they needed. Zack and Paul really nailed it with this one and made our tenth album our best sounding record to date. We are all very proud of what we have created here, and we hope everyone else will enjoy these 11 songs as much as we think they will.

“The song ‘Atonement‘ is about that blind fury and destructivnes of religious extremism regardless of where it comes from and under what religious banner it flies. The cover piece was inspired by a passage of lyrics from this song, and Par managed to create a visual for those four lines that just blew us away. So needless to say, we are very pleased with the overall look and feel of the album, which also includes 4 amazing pieces of artwork done by the extremely talented Zbigniew Bielak.

“We chose the song ‘Destructive Currents‘ as the first song to leak to the fans because it’s a fast and aggressive song that gets right down to business. It’s just dark and powerful, and I think it gives everyone a sense of whats in store for them with this release. Lyrically the song deals with the herd/mob mentality and how it gets fed, manipulated and exploited by outside forces. These are the currents of deception, misinformation and destruction, which are designed to mislead people. So that’s really the idea behind the song lyrically.”

WOLFHEART have dropped the new video for “Boneyard.” The single paves the way for Tyhjyys, the band’s third full-length, out March 3, 2015 via Spinefarm Records. Sounds like another killer record from this underrated band.

Norwegian black metal icons MAYHEM are celebrating the release of their 1994 landmark De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas full-length with tours across the globe. This coming January, the band will march their way across North America performing the record in its monumental entirety.

In conjunction with their many live appearances, MAYHEM will also release De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas Alive on December 15th, 2016. The album was captured live in Norrköping, Sweden last year during the band’s headlining set at the Black Christmass Festival. The show marked the band’s first time ever playing the album in full.

Check out live footage of “From the Dark Past” and “Life Eternal“:

De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas Alive was recorded, mixed and mastered by Tore Stjerna and NBS Audio and produced by vocalist Attila Csihar and guitarist Teloch with light production by Anne Weckstrom, stage design and production by Jonas Svensson, video recording by Thornfields Production and video editing by Tamàs Tarczi. The celebratory release will come available on CD, LP, and DVD (the first 1000 copies are numbered) as well as digitally on December 15th, 2016. For physical preorders, point your browser here. For digital orders go here.

Catch the band performing the album in its entirety on their upcoming North American tour with BLACK ANVIL and INQUISITION, which starts January 20, 2017.

The laserpunk duo RAINBOWLICKER, consisting of Johan (ex-BEASTMILKco-founder/songwriter) and Peps (ex-CREEPY CRAWLIE), has for quite some time aroused attention with their live performances, but until now, the twosome hasn’t been successfully persuaded to enter the studio. Svart Records forced the duo to record an album, titled I Saw The Light But Turned It Off, to be released in January 2017.

Today, the band unleashes the music video for the first single off the album, “Highscore.” Directed by Teemu Niukkanen and produced by Teko Films, the video is a revealing look into the music business and its shadowy workings. Awkwardly humorous, the video perfectly illustrates the band’s worldview in all the shades of grey.

RAINBOWLICKER draws inspiration from the fury of punk rock and riot grrrl subculture and drowns them in electronic pulsating waves of sound. The eclectic electric group has been difficult to pin down, and their music has shaken the walls of art galleries as well as rat-infested Russian squats. “In life, things get often so embarrassing that one just can’t do anything about it or especially say it aloud, but sometimes you just have to,” Johan describes the band’s modus operandi.